Thursday, 17 November 2011

A visit to Omaha Beach in France

On our way back to Cherbourg on one of our trips through France we took the opportunity to visit Omaha Beach, the scene of so many casualties during the D-Day landings. The beach was very quiet when we passed through, no doubt due to the Autumnal chill which was beginning to take hold. It was a very sobering experience to see all of the war graves that lined the routes on the way to the beach. We experienced something similar when we passed through Ypres (scene of very high casualties during WW1) on a previous trip. When driving through France it is not difficult to see the remnants of both world wars and the scars inflicted on the country, none are more obvious than the amount of bridges that were destroyed during world war two.

An old Sherman tank on Omaha Beach

We stood beside it to give an idea of the size of the thing!


The memorial on Omaha Beach

One of the German artillery posts...seriously thick walls.

Typical Teutonic Accuracy - neat and precise

A rangefinder in the upper chamber